Simple Supper-Rigatoni with Meat Sauce…..

Posted by on April 14, 2010

This is truly delicious.  You can use any combination of ground meat you like.  I recommend using hot italian sausage, after all ingredients are added, it has just a little kick.  Double or triple the recipe and freeze to enjoy on another hectic night.  Just boil pasta and dinner is on the table in minutes.  Serve with baby frozen peas, yummers!  

Simple rigatoni with meat sauce

¾ lb. lean ground beef
¾ lb. hot (or mild) Italian sausage
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 24 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 24 oz. can water
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
16 oz. package rigatoni
Parmesan cheese

1) In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, cook beef and sausage until cooked through, drain well. Add diced onions and cook until translucent, 7-10 minutes. Add garlic, cook about 2 minutes.
2) Add the tomato paste to the meat mixture, cook about 7 minutes, stirring often to caramelize the tomato paste. Be sure to stir often, it can easily burn. Add crushed tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, allow to simmer about 20 minutes, stir occasionally.
3) Under cook pasta by 2 minutes. Put pasta back in the pan and add sauce, cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, stir gently.  Top with parmesan cheese, serve immediately. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Pasta, Quick Weeknight Dinners | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

Thank you, Jessica!

Posted by on April 14, 2010

Jessica, a fellow blogger posted a comment regarding Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  I thought I’d posted  her comment, but something happened….could it be the margarita I’m enjoying on the deck while blogging?….probably not a good idea!  Anyway, she said that if I was truly inspired by the show, to go on line and sign the petition, so I did.  Here is the link:  www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com/petition.

We all need to do our part for the future of our children.  I’m thrilled that a celebrity chef has taken action, one from another country no less!  Thank you Jamie Oliver!  Let us all take action to become healthier.  Baby steps.  We can do it!

Have a great week!

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution…..

Posted by on April 10, 2010

Hello everyone!

Anyone watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution?  I love it!  It’s very much what I’m all about, getting everyone in their kitchens and using good, real ingredients.  Yes, I do sweets, but the recipes contain all REAL ingredients.  As always, sweet treats must be enjoyed in moderation. 

Have you noticed the foods that are coming into season?  Strawberries and asparagus.  So many more are just around the corner.  Try to fill your cart with good produce, healthy whole grains, such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta, lean meats, and low fat dairy. 

Let’s all strive to elilminate processed foods.  Here are some things I do not bring into my house and the alternatives I do:

NO to Soda,  YES to juices such as apple, orange,  and grape that do not contain corn syrup.
NO to Processed/packaged  cookies, YES to home baked goodies with real ingredients.
NO to Fruit roll ups/candy, YES to plenty of fresh fruit, grapes, pears, bananas.
NO to sweet lunch drinks, YES to water for lunch.

These are just a few things that can make a big difference.  If you have any suggestions you’d like to share, please do!  Feel free to email me.

Have a great weekend!

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

John Flanagan’s Beef Marinade…..

Posted by on April 7, 2010

This is an excellent marinade submitted by John Flanagan.  He recommends using flank steak, which is what I did when I first made the marinade…there was nothing left to photograph!  I made it again, this time with sirloin in the form of kabobs…delish!  I doubled the recipe so that I’d have enough to marinate the mushrooms and onions before grilling.  I skewer like vegetables and meats.  Everything cooks at a different rate, so I don’t like to put say something like tomatoes with onions or beef, they end up falling off before the meat or onions are cooked.  Serve with simple brown rice and grilled asparagus.   Tip-if using bamboo skewers, soak in water for at least an hour before skewering meats or vegetables.  This will prevent them from burning too quickly on the grill.  

John Flanagan’s Beef Marinade

¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Put all ingredients into a blender and liquefy, reserve a couple of tablespoons before marinating to spoon over cooked meat.  Double the recipe to marinate vegetables.  (I do not recommend cooking this marinade after marinating over night, it breaks too much of the protiens down and will create a “curdled” sauce.)

For Flank steak:  John recommends marinating in the refrigerator overnight, the longer the better!  I suggest putting the steak into a large zip bag and add marinade.  Squish around several times to distribute marinade.  Grill to your preferred doneness.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes, loosely covered with foil before slicing.  Thinly slice against the grain.  Spoon reserved marinade over meat, enjoy!

For meat kabobs:  You can buy lean stew meat that is already cut up, or sirloin and cut it into cubes yourself.  Skewer the meat onto bamboo skewers before marinating, that way you can avoid the mess.  If you use sirloin, no need to marinade longer than an hour or two.  If using stew meat, marinate over night.  For medium cooked meat, grill on medium high about 10 minutes.

For vegetables-Into a large plastic zip bag, add cleaned whole mushrooms and onions cut into wedges.  Pour about 1/2 cup marinade into bag and refrigerate until you’re ready to grill. Give the bag a toss a couple of times to evenly coat veggies.  I use metal skewers for these as they take a bit longer to cook and the bamboo skewers often burn up.  You can marinate these anywhere from an hour to several hours.  To grill asparagus, no need to marinate, simply coat with a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill on medium high heat about 6 minutes, rolling occasionally.

Cook the vegetables first, as they are excellent served at room temperature alongside the grilled meat.  

Thank you John, this one’s a keeper!

Angie

Filed Under: Grilling, Meats | Tagged: Tagged With: ,

Happy Easter!

Posted by on April 4, 2010

Good morning.  I am looking forward to today.  We first go to 9:00 a.m. mass and then the “food” festivities begin.  I am baking homemade chocolate chip banana bread for “coffee” at my sister-in-law, Nancy’s  house today.   Later today, for dinner, we will go to my other sister-in-law, Mary Beth’s house for a delicious ham dinner.  I will be bringing dessert.  I think I’m going to make pumpkin squares with cream cheese frosting.  I will try to save a piece to photograph and will share the recipe.  This is one of my “go to” recipes. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday today.  I am thankful for YOU!

Blessings to you and yours, Happy Easter!

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

Did you know?

Posted by on March 31, 2010

Did you know that if you microwave a lemon or a lime for 10 seconds and then apply pressure with your palm while rolling roll it back and forth on the counter a few times you will get more juice out of it? 

Did you also know that the most intense flavor of citrus comes from the pretty intensely colored skin?  This is called the “zest.”  The tool pictured above is called a microplane.  Hold the plane with one hand and the lemon with the other.  Then run the lemon across the plane.  You only want to use the bright part of the skin as the pith, or the more white part of the skin can be bitter.  Give the tool a tap on the cutting board to loosen the flavorful bits from the underside.  You can get a microplane at http://www.cooking.com/ or most any kitchen store for around $10.  This tool can also be used to finely grate hard cheeses like parmesan or romano.

Try zesting a lemon, then juicing.  Add the juice as part of the cooking liquid for rice and when the rice is done,  add the zest at the very end.  You will have a delicious lemon rice to serve with the Crunchy Baked Cod recipe I posted  a couple of days ago.  You can add this to most any sugar cookie recipe, quick bread, or scone for an intense and delicious citrus flavor.

More to come!

Thank you so much for visiting.

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars….aahhhhh….hello!

Posted by on March 29, 2010

What’s better than the smell of peanut butter whafting through the house?  Having Ryan, my aspiring baker by my side to help!  Truly, kids simply love to help in the kitchen.  It is so good for them and this recipe is a snap!  It goes together in about 10 minutes and baking time is only about 20 minutes.  The beauty of a bar cookie is that there is no chilling of the dough involved…instant gratification, yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about….

You MUST try these, good luck waiting until they’ve completely cooled!   Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
1 ¼ cups unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350’. Coat a 9x13x2 inch pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2) In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
3) In a medium mixing bowl, beat brown and white sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Beat in water and egg. Add flour mixture all at once and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
4) Bake until light brown, 20-23 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Filed Under: Cookies and Bars | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,

Did you know?

Posted by on March 29, 2010

Did you know that after meat is removed from a marinade, you can use it as a sauce?  All you have to do is bring it to a boil for a minute or two and you’re good to go.  This way you can serve a simple steamed brown rice with your meat and drizzle some of the delicious marinade over for extra flavor, yum!

Have a great day!

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

My Dad, My Grandma, and Chickens….

Posted by on March 25, 2010

Several years ago I was visiting my Dad for Christmas.  He had a lovely nativity set up with lights and plopped right on top of the manger was a chicken……yes, a chicken…. I found that so funny and still do!

When I asked my step mom why there was a chicken on top of the manger she said that it was in remembrance of his Mom, my beloved Grandma Inez.  Apparently she was very fond of chickens and they had chickens in their yard when my Dad was a kid.  Isn’t that cute?

Anyway, I haven’t thought of that for many years and then today I realized the “foul” connection between the three of us.   I have a great fondness of roosters and chickens.  I have many in my kitchen. 

I also find it interesting that my Grandma’s favorite piece of chicken was the wing.  As a kid, I thought that was wierd.

Guess what my favorite piece of chicken is now?  You’ve got it, the wing! 

Isn’t it cool when you realize where your fondness of something, say roosters and chickens, came from?

Have a wonderful day!

Angie

Filed Under: Uncategorized | Tagged:

Crunchy Baked Cod with Tarter Sauce…..

Posted by on March 25, 2010

Cod is a very mild and flaky fish.  I buy it frozen because it is flash frozen right after it is caught.  It is the best way to buy fish in the midwest.  As always, refrigeration thawing is the best, it will take about 24 hours.  You can also defrost in a bowl in the sink under slowly running water.  It will take about an hour this way.  It doesn’t last long frozen, so use it up within a couple of weeks after you buy it.

This is an excellent and easy way to prepare cod.  My boys devour it!  I love the tarter sauce, I cut the mayonnaise with some fat free yogurt, you cannot tell the difference, it’s very good!

Crunchy Cod with Tarter Sauce

4 6 oz. pieces of cod
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup saltine crackers, coarsely crushed
Tarter sauce:

¼ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup plain non fat yogurt
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

1) Line a cookie sheet with Reynold’s non-stick foil. Preheat oven to 400’.
2) Rinse cod and dry with a paper towel. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
3) In a small microwavable bowl, add butter and olive oil. Microwave until butter is melted. Whisk in Dijon mustard and cayenne.
4) In a medium size bowl, add cracker crumbs.
5) Using a pastry brush, generously coat each piece of fish with the butter mixture. Coat fish with the cracker crumbs, pressing crumbs into fish to coat.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.
6) Bake for 15-18 minutes. While fish is baking, mix sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Fish, Quick Weeknight Dinners | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »